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2016 MAAC MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS
2016 MAAC MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS
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MAACSPORTS.COM
@MAACSPORTS
/MAACSPORTS
COMMISSIONER RICHARD J. ENSOR, ESQ.
Richard J. nsor was named the third Commissioner of
the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in August 1988. In
the 28 years since his appointment, Ensor has provided
leadership to the conference in a period of transition and
growth in intercollegiate athletics and the MAAC. During
his tenure the MAAC has secured a stable membership
base, expanded the number of championships conducted
and developed an extensive marketing program cemented
with broadcast agreements with ESPN, a web paged
hosted by NeuLion and partner championship venues
such as the Times Union Center(Albany, NY), Naismith
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Disney Sports
Attractions. During a time of tumultuous realignment
within NCAA Division I conferences the MAAC remains
a homogenous association of private institutions of
similar size and funding, which are committed to student-
athlete excellence both on the playing fields and in the
classroom. Ensor is a past member of the NCAA Division I
Women’s Basketball Committee and past president of the
Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA). He serves on the boards of the Sports Lawyers
Association, WBCA, Philadelphia Sports Congress, NCAA MBOLLC and NACDA’s IAAAADs.
In 2015 he began a four-year term on the NCAA DI Nominating Committee.
Under Ensor’s direction, the MAAC has focused efforts to showcase its member institutions
in its annual men’s and women’s basketball tournament. Since 1990 with the support of the
MAAC Council of Presidents and the league’s athletic administrators and coaches the MAAC
has held its premier event in state of the art playing facilities such as the Times Union Center
in Albany, NY, the Frist Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY, the Sun National Bank Center (Trenton,
NJ) and the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT. The 2016 championships will be hosted
at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY as the MAAC enters year two of a three year hosting
agreement with the TUC.
Ensor has also been instrumental in the expansion of MAAC sports offerings. In 1992 the
MAAC added women’s soccer, in 1996 men’s lacrosse, and in 1997 women’s lacrosse, men’s
and women’s indoor track and rowing. In 1998, the MAAC added outdoor track and field and
women’s golf, and in 2002-03 it added women’s water polo. The league currently sponsors
25 sports and is awarded automatic or play-in bids to 14 NCAA championships [baseball,
softball, tennis (m&w), men’s golf, basketball (m&w), outdoor track (m&w), lacrosse (m&w),
rowing (w), soccer (m&w) water polo (w), field hockey (w) and volleyball (w)]. Additionally,
MAAC men’s and women’s cross country have access to the NCAA championship through a
regional qualifier race. Over half the MAAC sponsored sports now have direct access to NCAA
Championships for the first time in the history of the conference. (Up from 13 sports and two
automatic bids in 1988.)
To award its fans, arena partners and membership, the MAAC during Ensor’s tenure has
been very aggressive in seeking out opportunities to host NCAA Championships in various
sports. With member schools it has served as a co-host of the 1995, 2000, 2004, 2007,
2010 and 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament First and Second Rounds at the Times
Union Center and the First Niagara Center (again the host for the 2016 1st and 2nd rounds),
respectively, and the 2003 NCAAMen’s Basketball East Regional at the Albany, NY arena and
the 2003 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four at the Buffalo venue. Additionally, the MAAC co-hosted
the 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2014 NCAA Northeast Cross Country Regional at Van
Cortlandt Park - Bronx, NY. In 2002, the MAAC was a co-host of the NCAA Division I Wrestling
Championship at the Times Union Center, and it repeated as host in 2011 at the Wells Fargo
Center in Philadelphia, PA. All the NCAA men’s championships the MAAC has hosted with
its arena partners have been sellouts. The MAAC co-hosted the NCAA Women’s Basketball
Tournament First and Second Rounds at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ in 2006
and then hosted the Trenton Regional at the same site in 2009. The MAAC has since co-
hosted the NCAA Women’s Basketball Regional twice. In 2013 at the Webster Bank Arena in
Bridgeport, CT with Fairfield University, and in 2015 for the first time at the Times Union Center
in Albany, NY with Siena College where it will again host in 2018.
Ensor, who spearheads the league’s marketing efforts, has sought to tie the conference’s
strong academic image into its marketing campaign. The MAAC has carved a well-earned
niche as an athletic conference that balances quality academics and athletics. In 2015 the
MAAC was ranked in the top quartile of the 31 NCAA Division I conferences in the NCAA’s
Graduation Rate Success Report with 25 MAAC women’s sports teams and 13 men’s sports
teams achieving a perfect APR score of 1,000. The marketing efforts have been timely, as
it has highlighted the conference’s continued rise in the basketball standings. Ensor has
aggressively pushed the MAAC into internet-based marketing through its award winning web
page,
www.maacsports.com,and other technology driven initiatives such as the league’s
MAAC.TV.
In 2014 the MAAC announced a new sponsorship representation agreement with ANC Sports
Enterprises, LLC which is an industry leader in team and venue services, providing integrated
signage, design, and marketing solutions for sports and commercial facilities. ANC maintains
league-wide digital scoretable systems for the MAAC’s member schools. In 2010, the MAAC
announced a multi-year agreement with ESPN which includes 40 plus broadcasts annually on
ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 including men’ and women’s basketball and championships from
ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
In 1998 the MAAC under Ensor’s direction began a new marketing and championship initiative
when it entered into a multi-year agreement with Disney Sports Attractions to host on a rotating
basis at the Orlando, FL facility the conference’s volleyball, men’s soccer, men’s & women’s
cross country and women’s soccer championships. In 2000 the partnership was extended to
the conference’s annual men’s and women’s golf championship at Disney on its Magnolia and
Palm courses. In 2006 the MAAC the partnership with Disney when it entered into a multi-year
hosting agreement with ESPN to sponsor the Old Spice Men’s Basketball Classic in Orlando.
A 1975 graduate of Saint Peter’s University, Ensor has served in many administrative
capacities in college sports including positions at his alma mater, Saint Louis University and
Seton Hall University. In 1982, Ensor holds a Master’s degree in sports management with
honors from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. An attorney, Ensor graduated from
Seton Hall University’s School of Law in 1987 and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in June
of that year. He has taught as an Assistant Professor in Sport Management at UMass, where
his concentration was on sports marketing and sports law.
Ensor is a member of many professional associations, including the American Bar Association.
In addition, Ensor is a member of sport-related associations such as the Sports Lawyers
Association, the New Jersey Bar Association Sports Law Committee, the American Bar
Association, Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries, NACDA and the CAANJ.
His community work includes current stints as a board member of the Mercer County Sports
& Entertainment Commission and the Monsignor Donovan High School Leadership Advisory
Committee. He has published in the areas of Sport Law, and Sport Marketing. In 1994 Ensor
served as chair of the New Jersey Bar Association Sport Law Committee.
A member of the Collegiate Commissioner’s Association (CCA), Ensor is a Past President
(2007-09) of the association. Ensor has been very involved in NCAA governance since 1999
when he began a four-year term on the NCAA Division I Management Council, a segment of
the new national governing system for the intercollegiate sports association. He currently is a
member of the Council’s Administration Committee. Ensor had previously served on the old
NCAACouncil and in January 1996, he served as Chair of the Division I-AANCAAConvention/
Business Session. He previously served on the Division I Administration Cabinet and on the
Championships Cabinet where he chaired the exempted events subcommittee. Ensor has
also served on the NCAA Division IAA Governance Committee and on NCAA committees
dealing with playing season exemptions, athletic certification, and the regulatory culture of the
NCAA, governance restructuring and antitrust issues. Ensor was appointed in 1996 and 2003
to a one-year terms as the chair of the IAA commissioners. From 1999-2003 he was served as
Secretary/Treasurer of the Ice Hockey Collegiate Commissioners Association.
In 2007 Ensor extended his involvement with national issues when he was appointed to
a 5-year term on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. The committee is
charged with annually selecting teams, seeding, bracketing and operating the NCAAWomen’s
Basketball Championship including the Final Four.
In 2001 Ensor was named by the American Football Foundation as its Commissioner of the
Year and in 1999 he was presented a Distinguished Service Award from the Metropolitan
Basketball Writers and in 1998 was inducted into the Saint Peter’s University Hall of Fame.
He also is a member of the Monsignor Donovan HS Hall of Fame. In 1996, the University
of Massachusetts, Amherst Sport Management Program named Ensor as the recipient of
the VanderZwaag Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 1989, the Association of Jesuit Colleges
and Universities named Ensor as one of the “Leaders of Service” in its Bicentennial Series
publication. In 1993, Ensor was honored by NACWA as a “Good Guy” for his efforts in regards
to gender equity. In 2004 Ensor received a Mouscar from Walt Disney World for his efforts
to make dreams happen for the MAAC’s student-athletes participating in championships at
ESPN Wide World of Sports.
Ensor and his wife Deirdre, who is a Registered Nurse, are the parents of Kaitlin, Brendan,
Kiernan, and Colleen. They reside in Lanoka Harbor, NJ.